How to Build New Income Streams Without Burning Out

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Once you’ve mastered basic money management skills, building wealth means increasing your income.

In last week’s post, I discussed the three tenets of building wealth.

1. Ensuring income > expenses
2. Investing surplus funds in diversified, passive investments
3. Patiently repeating the process every month

Once you have mastered budgeting and have taken care of your short-term financial goals, personal finance becomes about one thing; widening the gap between income and expenses and investing your increasing monthly cash flow.

At this point in your financial life, “Widening the gap” means making more money.

In last week’s post, I shared how I decided to make more money which was to turn my writing hobby into a side business. Today my writing business has multiple income streams.

Here’s how I manage all of this alongside my 9-5 and not neglecting my duties as a father and husband.

Here’s the wrong way to build multiple income streams

Everyone talks about how exciting it is to make your first dollar online.

Few people talk about how exciting it is to make your first $1,000 online and what a fork-in-the-road moment that can be—especially if you’re in the content creation business.

• Down one road: You double down on what works and find smart ways to leverage your work to create new income streams.
• Down the other road: You take the buckshot approach and try and “be everywhere.”

The first time I made $1,000 in a month from writing was the moment I truly believed I could turn my habit of writing about personal finance into a business. I decided it was time to capitalize on my writing and begin adding new income streams. This was the right instinct, but I chose the completely wrong approach.

I opted in for the “be everywhere approach.” This meant in addition to writing blog posts, I started:

• A newsletter
• A YouTube channel
• Podcasting
• Creating online courses

I learned the hard way that my talents as a creator were not in video or audio production but in writing.

• I am a writer, not a Podcaster
• I am a writer, not a Youtuber.

I ended up spending more time working on podcasts and videos and less time doing what made me successful—writing.

I ended up struggling with burnout—This was also in the first year of COVID, and I had become a first-time dad— and thought about calling it quits with my side huslte in late 2020.

But, I found that writing was a tough habit to quit.

2021 was a breakthrough year in my writing, largely because I stopped trying to build a multi-media business and decided to build a writing business.

Everything in my business is based on my writing.

• I write long-form blog posts multiple times per week—>?Income stream 1.
• The most highlighted quotes from those posts become social media posts which helps me find new readers.—>?Supports all income streams.
• I write and self-publish one book per year and release it chapter by chapter to paid subscribers of Making of a Millionaire—>?Income stream 2.
• When all of the chapters are released, I self-publish the book on Amazon—>?Income stream 3.
• I use the initial royalties from the book to hire an audio producer to turn each book into an Audiobook—>?Income stream 4.
• I also give the audiobook away for free to paid subscribers of Making of a Millionaire—>?Supports income stream 2.

All of these income streams build off the ones that came before them.

This is not only a much more profitable way for me to run my business, but it also takes much less time and is much more enjoyable because I spend more time doing what I am good at (writing) and less time on what I am not good at (producing video and audio).

The lessons for any side hustler in the 2020s

Here are the takeaways for anyone who wants to start an online side hustle to supplement their 9-5 income and accelerate the wealth-building process.

• Find your medium as a creator— are you a writer, a video creator, or a podcaster?
• Don’t diversify too early— if you run a blog, take some time to become a really good blogger.
• Find scalable income— Something that will allow you to scale your income over time. I choose a paid newsletter and self-publishing as my scalable income, but it’s not the only way.
• Reinvest every penny your side hustle makes— Reinvest it back into the business to scale your income, or invest in a diversified portfolio of index funds and build passive wealth.

Your side hustle should be making your life better, not adding to your stress.

• AVOID?the buckshot approach— Having multiple unrelated income streams is a recipe for burnout.
• EMBRACE?stacking income streams—Each income stream builds and supports what you are already working on in your business, creating a virtuous cycle of growth.

Growth in a business means more income, which means more money to invest and build wealth.

Do you currently have a side hustle? Do you have an idea for one but haven’t gotten started yet? Leave a comment below. I’d love to talk about it.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.